The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore
The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore was a biography written by Rita Skeeter. Skeeter published the book in July 1997, only a few weeks following Dumbledore's death. The book was a work of fiction. The few facts were manipulated. Background When Albus Dumbledore died, many friends and writers started to give their reflections on his life. Elphias Doge wrote an obituary in the Daily Prophet to give a favourable but vague review. Rita Skeeter gave an interview in the same edition about the new book which was set to be published the next week. She made the book so she could be the very first to write a biography about him and that it did not take her very long since she had both a Quick-Notes-Quill and many people who were quite happy to tell her the truth about him. Contents Chapters 9-12 Kendra Dumbledore moved to Godric's Hollow when Percival Dumbledore was sent to Azkaban. Her main reason was in order to hide Ariana Dumbledore. Kendra wanted to be left alone and she would not speak to her neighbours. Bathilda Bagshot states that she would never have even known that Kendra had a daughter since Ariana was kept very well hidden, until Bathilda noticed Kendra taking Ariana outside at night, but strangely kept a grip on her. Many thought Ariana to be a Squib since she was kept hidden from around the age of seven when magic should have already revealed itself in a witch or wizard. Her brothers were then made to tell others who knew about her that Ariana was too sick to attend school. Chapter 16 It then looks into Albus Dumbledore's achievements in life, one of which Rita Skeeter claimed he stole from Ivor Dillonsby, who claims he had already found eight uses of dragon’s blood when Dumbledore 'borrowed' the papers. It's also implied that the duel between Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald really happened, and that Gellert went quietly due to an old friendship between them instead of Albus winning what's considered to be one of the greatest duels ever. The Potter-Dumbledore Relationship Rita Skeeter devoted an entire chapter to the Potter-Dumbledore relationship and how Harry Potter was noticed fleeing the tower where Dumbledore died only minutes earlier. The Greater Good When Ariana was fourteen, her mother died. At the time, Albus had recently graduated Hogwarts and was due to go away with his friend Elphias Doge. He decided to stay at home to help Ariana so Aberforth could continue to attend Hogwarts. Enid Smeek states that even though he stayed, he did not want to and kept Ariana hidden while doing nothing to stop Aberforth's rebel ways. That same summer, Gellert Grindelwald came to Godric's Hollow to stay with his aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. Even though he excelled at Durmstrang, they had expelled him for the extreme experiments he made with the Dark Arts. He travelled for a while until he went to Godric's Hollow where he became friends with Albus. Gellert managed to persuade Albus to accept the idea of the greater good - to control Muggles for their own good. It contradicts the good image Albus built of himself as one who was good and kind to Muggles. However, only two months into their friendship, Ariana died. Gellert was at the house that day and fled while Aberforth blamed Albus. Skeeter ponders on what happened - why did Aberforth blame Albus? Why did Gellert flee? How did Ariana exactly die? She then comes up with a few theories - did Albus and Gellert kill her when she found out about their plans? It's then stated that Albus may have delayed stopping Gellert from creating the world he and Albus had once dreamed of. It may be because he still had affection for him and that Albus may have stopped him, but a part of him never wanted to. Other topics Rita Skeeter covered why she thinks Albus only wanted to be Headteacher of a school when he could have become Minister for Magic. She also wonders why he really created the Order of the Phoenix and how he actually died in 1997. Pictures Several pictures were included in the book. * One of the Dumbledore family was included, in an extract of Kendra's move to Godric's Hollow. It showed Albus next to Percival who was holding newborn Ariana, with Kendra and Aberforth * One of Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald following Kendra's death. * Few other unknown photographs were included throughout the book. Critics The book was popular and won five stars from the Daily Prophet, but upset many other people, who felt very annoyed by things they thought or knew to be untruthful. Elphias Doge stated that her nine-hundred page book had very little fact but Rita Skeeter made out in her interview with the Daily Prophet that Elphias was "completely gaga". Rita then remarked that not everyone thought Albus was as wonderful as Elphias did and that she found a better source - meaning Bathilda Bagshot - who was quite happy to talk about the hard truths that Elphias had either given a very vague review of or left out of the obituary he wrote for Dumbledore. For Harry Potter, he was upset by the chapter that looked into the Potter-Dumbledore relationship, knowing everything she wrote was very wrong. Even though only a few of the things were kind of truthful in the whole book, it made him see how little he really knew about his teacher and made him wonder whether Albus really cared about him. He couldn't accept many of the truths for a while until Hermione Granger made him see that even though Albus made mistakes in his youth, he grew up and changed. The truth Ariana did have magic. Her family did not hide her due to being a Squib and Kendra did not move to Godric's Hollow to help do so. When she was aged about 6, young Muggles saw Ariana practicing magic. They wanted her to show them the magic but she couldn't out of fear. They attacked her and left her mentally unwell with very little control of her magic, and she became a danger. Percival was very upset by what happened and found the Muggles to hurt them too and he was sent to Azkaban. He never told anyone why since Ariana would be sent to St Mungo's. They decided to keep her secret and were telling the truth about Ariana being sick. Kendra moved to Godric's Hollow in the hope no one would notice they were related to Percival. When Ariana was fourteen, she became upset and lost control of her magic. She killed her mother by mistake. Ariana did not die when she found out about Albus and Gellert's plans. Albus and Gellert were planning to leave Godric's Hollow but Albus had a change of heart about the "Greater Good" idea. Albus and Gellert got into an argument and then a duel at the house which Aberforth then intervened in. While they fought each other, Ariana became upset and got in the middle of them where she was hit by a spell that killed her. They never found out who made the spell that killed her but Aberforth blamed Albus for getting into the argument with Gellert who fled. The duel between Albus and Gellert really did happen but Albus did not delay the confrontation due to affection for Gellert. He was actually scared that Gellert may know and be able tell him whether he made the spell that killed Ariana. Notes and sources Category:Rita Skeeter's books